Indonesia & Japan

Go back in time with these partially ruined temples from the 9th century. Celebrating the hindu trinity (Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh, Creator- Sustainer-Destroyer), these temples have seen their cycles of creation and destruction more than once.

Don’t get me wrong—I love Tokyo and wouldn’t trade it for any other city in world. But sometimes you’ve just got to get out and decompress by dropping the pace several notches with an overnight stay somewhere beyond the borders of the urban...

What was supposed to be a solo trip turned into a serendipitous rendevous with one of my dear college friends and creative collaborators, who happened to be in the Philippines right as I was planning to tour Bali, and then Manila. He ended up...

Make sure to check everything off your to-do list before staying at Maya Ubud Resort & Spa because you'll immediately melt into the landscape and never want to leave. The tiered layout and minimal design seamlessly intertwine with the jungle...

Bali sometimes gets an unfair review as being an overhyped and overly-touristed exotic destination. On the contrary, my husband and I enjoyed our three weeks there immensely. We divided our time between unassuming, coastal Jimbaran and Ubud (of...

The Chuzenji Temple in Oku-nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, was originally founded in 784 by a Buddhist monk known as Shodo-shonin and is located on the shore of Lake Chuzenji, which is approximately 1,300 meters above sea level. In the middle of the...

The sunrise at Borobudur is one of those magical experiences that makes us spend so much money on travel. The site of the smoking volcano on the horizon, combined with the brilliant hues and Buddhas on the summit of the temple mountain, make this...

Our two month adventure in Indonesia during the Fall of 2014 included two weeks on the island of Java. After a 10 hour train ride from Jakarta we spent several nights at Rumah Dharma, a set of 5 humble cottages set amidst the green fields of the...

The resort’s 36 limestone-clad suites were inspired by Borobudur, Java’s famous Buddhist sanctuary two miles away, and face the surrounding rice paddies. Don’t missthe Grain of Rice experience, which starts with a visit to...

My travel companion and I have seen our fair share of Asian markets - good, bad and ugly. Whether we intentionally scout them out or somehow stumble into a chicken massacre in the back alley of a Burmese meat market, we always find ourselves in...

The Royal Ambarrukmo, endorsed by Yogyakarta's reigning Sultan (a governor, in terms of power now) is fit for royalty indeed. As the only 4 star hotel in this laid back Javanese city, it's also one of the best options for a tourist who wants to...

The Plaosan Complex, located near Jogyakarta in Central Java, is a pair of Buddhist temples and associated structures that were constructed in the middle of the ninth century AD - long before the arrival of Islam, which dominates the island today....

During our first day in Yogyakarta, we had delicious lunch by the rice fields, and proceed to Prambanan Complex, which is older than Angkor Wat temples. Even though it was a bit rainy, a knowledgable guide was really helpfull to explain more about...

In Java, puppetry is a serious art form that tells stories central to the culture. The puppets are also playful, colorful and so fun to see. Museum Wayang is on the west side of Jakarta's Fatahillah Square, the modern name for the Dutch colonial...

Ayutthaya became my compulsory destination in my thailand trip. Since i've always loved being around historical places that comprise ruins, old buildings and heritage sites, Ayutthaya had succeeded to keep me nothing but amazed by all the vibes...

A landmark in Hanoi’s French Quarter since opening in 1901, this colonial building with distinctive green shutters and gleaming vintage Citroën Traction cars out front has welcomed presidents, ambassadors, and literary and...

I used to call Hoi An "The Venice of Vietnam" as its narrow streets and colorful houses remind me of Venice. The city is well-known for its lanterns. Highly recommended to stop by for few days, here in the center of Vietnam.

This shop on the Tokyo Ramen Street, a set of ramen shops in the basement of Tokyo Station, is one of the best in the stretch, and the short lines outside make it a great stop before you catch a train. Shichisai serves a clean delicious shoyu, or...

This restaurant is part of the Setagaya group, which has locations worldwide. They serve a light, briny shio, or salt broth, made from dried sardines and scallops. Although the original spot is lunchtime only, the location at the Tokyo Ramen...

This is an absolute gem of a restaurant with two branches in Nishi-azabu and in Roppongi-ichome in the Mori Sengokuyama Hills complex next to the Swedish Embassy. While the eclectic cuisine, expertly prepared by ex-Roy’s executive chef...

While the craft beer revolution was busy sweeping the US, Japan was getting left behind, content with admittedly tasty but decidedly stodgy national brew brands like Asahi and Kirin. Thanks to strict tax laws prohibiting brewers from producing...

Ameyayokocho The open-air stalls underneath the train tracks were once a haven for criminal transactions. Today they’re a paradise for bargain-hunters looking for such essentials as green tea and dried fish. Don’t miss the labyrinthine underground...

You can find this place by looking for a giant line outside a Kichijoji butcher shop that usually snakes across the street, around the bend, and requires multiple employees to manage. The line is for deep-fried beef balls: breaded lard bombs...

The Japanese have a love affair with the French; you can see it all over Tokyo and it is reflected in restaurants such as Aux Bacchanales, a bistro serving classic brasserie food as well as patisserie desserts.

When the Japanese set their sights on something, they almost always end up producing superior copies of whatever the original in question was. The same is true of food—the world’s best Italian and French can be found in Tokyo, trumping almost...

I’m going to drop all pretenses and just come out and say this—this is the best steak in the world. Hands-down. Seriously, nothing else even comes close. Even Wagyu (as in true Japanese beef—not that horrible simulacrum pawned off on ignorant...

Spanish cuisine, particularly tapas, is very popular in Tokyo, perhaps because of its similarities to Japanese culinary culture—a focus on fresh ingredients, simple but elegant presentation, and small portion sizes that allow diners to sample many...

Craving a bowl of killer ramen but put off by the prospect of waiting in line for hours to do so? Well, look no further than Fukki, a brilliant noodle shop in between Shiba Park and Hamamatsucho Station specializing in Hakata-style tonkotsu (pig...

Much like many other towns and cities around the world today, Tokyo has an incredible number of Chinese restaurants. And just like many of these places overseas, the food served is more often than not less than authentic, being an interpretation...

If you’re out partying until the wee hours of the morning, chances are that sooner or later your appetite is bound to catch up with your thirst for excitement and you’ll find yourself jonesing for some grub. Depending upon where you live back...

Much is made of Tokyo’s Michelin stars, particularly the sushi kind—thanks to mass media reviews and documentaries such as “Jiro Dreams of Sushi.” Just about every raw fish fan around the globe is familiar with such big-name sushi eateries as Jiro...

When I took my beautiful wife to Tokyo to celebrate her birthday in March, because we only had three days in town we had to very carefully curate our dining choices. While we did visit an old favourite, most of the restaurants we visited were new...

Honmura An in Roppongi is famous for its housemade soba (chewy buckwheat noodles). Owner Koichi Kobari uses a sobabocho (soba knife) to cut the noodles each day. I always get the soba with tororo, which is grated mountain yam, and a cold beer. —...

Ninja Akasaka is a ninja-themed restaurant in Tokyo. Upon arrival, a ninja will guide you through almost pitch-black corridors, secret passages, and a drawbridge. The menu offers a variety of set courses that also cater to vegetarians and...

For the best yakitori I go to Toritama in Ebisu. They specialize in rarely served, unique parts of the chicken. There’s one dish in particular, a premature egg that’s still connected to ovaries, which they grill. —David Myers This appeared in the...

If Manhattan’s famous music club CBGB were reimagined by a Japanese food fiend, the result would be Tatemichiya. The izakaya, or Japanese-style tapas bar, in Tokyo’s Daikanyama neighborhood, is the brainchild of punk-music fanatic Yoshiyuki Okada....

You can spend a lot of money on food in Tokyo. Or you can spend a little. And get food shaped like a fish and filled with delicious sweet bean paste.Andthesmiling woman who'swhipping up those tasty little fish, called taiyaki,might even give your...

Tokyo Tower may not be exactly the Eiffel Tower, but at night it is pretty damn close! Sitting near the base of this enormous TV tower is an amazing restaurant that offers fine tofu cuisine in a traditional Japanese garden setting and dojo-style...

Earlier this month, thanks to some amazingly cheap deals on Scoot, I was able to whisk my wife up to Tokyo for a three-day eating trip to celebrate our twelfth wedding anniversary. We had only three nights in town, which meant (to me at least)...

My wife and I were in Japan for her first visit, and we had resolved to stay in Japanese-style ryokans instead of Western-style hotels to save money as well as for the new experiences. Needless to say, before GPS, this resolution made it...

The colorful Asakusa district is a laid-back, fun, colorful neighborhood where you can buy crappy kitsch and kitschy crap (there are a lot of kitchenware shops, for some reason). Asakusa is also home to Tokyo's most well-known temples and 45...

Third-generation chef Kimio Nonaga was the 2002 Iron Chef champion from the original program. Dine kappō-style at the counter and watch as Nonaga-san works with seasonal seafood in front of the diners. Open for lunch as well. Just minutes from ...

Located in the residential district known as Hakusan, this restaurant serves vegetarian food of the Zen Buddhist Monks dating back over 300 years. Those monks really ate well! A traditional Japanese room of tatami mats and sliding doors was set...

The Ginza district is home to Tokyo's oldest and most prestigious shopping department stores and high-high end luxury retailers. Chuo-Dori, the main artery in the tony shopping district of Ginza, is worth a walk-down if you're drawn to streets...

Immortalized on celluloid in the film Lost in Translation, the modernist property spreads across the upper floors of the three connecting granite, steel, and glass columns of Shinjuku Park Tower. The 770-foot building rises in a succession of...

She was a pleasant breakfast companion albeit somewhat reticent like her Scandic forefathers. But it was her table I joined so I was in no place to remark: It was, after all, the first time I had the pleasure having a meal with a child-sized...

Operated by the Seattle’s Best chain of coffee shops, Vashon Bar and Grill is a casual affair located in the immediate vicinity of Shiba Park and Zojoji Temple. In addition to fresh-roasted coffee, it offers a Northwest continental-style cuisine...

Sure, there are lots of breakfast places in Tokyo that may make better versions of specific dishes, but there very few (indeed, if any) that offer the sheer variety as the selection of morning grub available at Suji’s, located next to the Russian...

Hidden away on the 9th floor of an unassuming building near the Apple Store in Ginza is one of Tokyo’s best-kept secrets of the Italian osteria variety—even the name is hard to remember (at least for me, but that’s not unusual). Upon disembarking...

Having just returned from a fairly lengthy sojourn to France, I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert on croissants. (That, and I’ve also been eating them since I could put food in my mouth of my volition.) And I will admit that the iconic...

The Japanese love fried chicken (and really, who doesn’t?), and Tokyo offers any number of variations of this deliciously crunchy, batter-dipped staple of comfort food, from home-grown karaage and chicken tatsuta to KFC (which the locals associate...

There’s a special word in the Korean language for “heaven”. More specifically, an edible embodiment of heaven consisting of an incredibly chewy wheat flour pancake stuffed with a molten medley of brown sugar, cinnamon, honey and peanuts that...

If you’re like me, you love spicy food. And by “love”, I mean,“addicted to”. Thai Isan-style jungle curry, Texas five-alarm chili—you name it, the more capiscum in the dish, the better. However, it’s equally important to ensure that whatever meal...

In the early hours of a summer morning I visited the Cistercian Abbey of Sénanque in Provence near the crumbling hill town of Gordes. It was completely silent, with not a soul about. A purple swathe of lavender cut a dash as it graced the old...

When my husband and I went to Provence last summer I, uncharacteristically, did not do much planning. When we were checking into our hotel in Aix I saw a picture of the most brilliant blue water in a brochure and I asked the woman at check-in what...

It's safe to say there’s nothing in the world quite like this magical island, topped by a medieval monastery that rises out of the bay like a heavenly apparition. It’s said that, early in the 8th century, a bishop in nearby Avranches...

There are more than 100 castles in France's Loire Valley, encompassing Orléans, Amboise, Angers, Blois, Chinon, Nantes, Saumur, Tours and beyond. Stretching along the Loire River, these royal châteaux are filled with fascinating history, opulent...

An incredible French restaurant called Les Bateliers lies over the water just near the Rue Turenne Bridge in Colmar, France, providing a one of a kind view of the colorful historical architecture. If you had to choose one place to eat in Colmar,...

Last summer, Tim and Kathy Turner took a break from the Mont Blanc hiking circuit for a night at Refuge des Mottets, a French backcountry lodge decorated with cowbells and old iron cookware. The Turners, from the United States, were the only...

Centered around an elaborate water fountain constructed during the Second Empire, the Palais Longchamp is home to the Natural History Museum, with its cabinets of curiosities and zoological specimens, as well as the Museum of Fine Arts. Here...

Marseille began its life as a trading port founded by the ancient Greeks, and the city’s heart remains at the waterfront. Here, you can witness the city's vibrant Mediterranean soul: Restaurants, cafés and souvenir shops bustle, pavilions host...

The crescent-shaped area on the right bank of the Garonne River is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Of particular note are the splendid neoclassical buildings constructed during the Age of Enlightenment thanks to the wealth of the wine...

After spending 3 nights in the quaint southern France town of Narbonne on the Canal de La Robine, 4 of us headed to Argens to pick up our Penichette 1020 FB to self-drive for a week, going west on the Canal du Midi for 119 kilometers. We...

They call it an incredible feat of civil engineering. They say it is one of the longest canal systems in the world, the most spectacular man-made waterway. They inscribe it a World Heritage Site. But the Canal du Midi is a living work of art that...

At an altitude of 2100 meters, the Alpine Botanical Gardens at the Lautaret Pass in the Dauphiné Alps are a breathtaking (literally!) experience. If you love glaciers, fresh air, and botany, a visit to this paradise-like garden is a must.

I attended a photography workshop in Normandy, France, May 2013. Honfleur, Bayeux, D-Day sites, Mont Saint-Michel and Caen were among the picturesque sites of Normandy we visited. Needless to say, we all came home with great photos of this...